🔗 Share this article

A American legislative body looking into pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he participate in an interview as part of its probe into Epstein’s wrongdoings.

In a communication released on Thursday, a California congressman, the senior Democrat on the House oversight committee, urged that King Charles III’s younger brother cooperate with its inquiry.

The formal request to respond to queries comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his HRH style and consented to surrender his rented residence in Windsor.

Documents and Allegations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name is listed in records and flight logs obtained from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been accused by one of Epstein’s accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre, of sexual assault.

“The committee will examine accusations of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand information on Epstein’s activities, circle, and accomplices based on the men’s longstanding and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a press release.

It demanded details from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his relationship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has always vehemently rejected any misconduct.

Content of the Request

“It has been documented that your friendship with Mr Epstein commenced in 1999 and that you continued associating through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for trafficking underage girls for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.

It added: “It has also been reported that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s residence at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of assaulting minors. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, combined with the freshly uncovered 2011 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our belief that you may have important details about the offenses committed by Mr Epstein and his co-conspirators.”

A statement regarding the letter said it was supported by 13 other Democrats on the committee and asks a reply by 20 November.

Earlier Statements and Cooperation

The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be called to give evidence before the committee. The public should be able to know who was abusing women and young girls alongside Epstein.”

However, the congressman does not possess the power to legally require the duke and Congress itself cannot oblige evidence from a foreign national.

In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to cooperate to US appeals for an discussion. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had contacted Andrew’s attorneys to check on his earlier promise that he was “ready to help any relevant law enforcement agency”.

“It’s just for people to know whether Prince Andrew has followed through with that pledge,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “offered no cooperation”.

Demands for Accountability

The congressman said in a comment that “rich and well-connected men have avoided accountability for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the option to tell the truth and deliver justice for the survivors. Oversight Democrats will not halt fighting for responsibility and clarity for those affected of Epstein and his network of accomplices.”

Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving testimony to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as media coverage of leaked documents, “it is crucial that Andrew cooperates with the active investigation. If he is innocent, then he can prove his innocence.”

The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our investigation will demonstrate that, and the victims will receive much-delayed redress. The monarchy’s actions removing Andrew of his honors indicate there is additional to this situation.”

The letter was issued on the same day the British king publicly removed Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III publicly made the adjustment – which had been announced a week ago – by issuing a “royal decree” which the crown office published in the Gazette, the UK’s official public record.